Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
You can watch Sudbury’s virtual Remembrance Day ceremony now:
Sudbury’s traditional Remembrance Day service at the Sudbury Arena won’t be taking place Nov. 11 due to the pandemic, but you’re invited to tune into a virtual ceremony through YouTube. Royal Canadian Legion branches 564 (Lockerby Legion) and 76 (Minnow Lake) teamed up with the UN Nato Veterans to film a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Memorial Park cenotaph last month. You can view that ceremony here.
Nearly one-third of Greater Sudbury's COVID-19 cases have been in the last week:
The city's top doc spoke to Greater Sudbury city council on Nov. 10, exactly eight months to the day since the city's first positive case of COVID-19. Fast forward to Tuesday evening, the health unit had confirmed five more cases, including a pair of outbreaks bringing the total number of cases since March 10 to 186. "Almost one-third of all of our local cases have been reported in the last week alone," said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, chief medical officer of health, Public Health Sudbury and Districts. "So we are very suddenly thrust into the second wave of COVID-19 locally." Statistics presented by Sutcliffe showed a sharp spike in test positivity, with a rate of 1.3 per cent and a case rate of 26 per 100,000 people. "In the previous seven days we were seeing a rate of about one per 100,000," said Sutcliffe. "The tip of the iceberg is the cases and underneath the iceberg is all the additional work around contacts and careful followup and investigation. We are seeing about 12 contacts per case, some are more some are less but on an average (of 12)." Highlighted by Sutcliffe on Tuesday was the age groups where cases seem to be becoming more frequent, as the health unit has seen more frequent cases among people in their 20s. "We're seeing more younger people, people in their 20s, and this is maybe not unexpected or unusual, this has been seen in other parts of the province that hit this part of the wave sooner than we did," said Sutcliffe. "It really speaks to, I think, the need for young people to be social and to have connections, but also to make sure that they're aware of how to do that in a way that is safe." More on this story here.
Aim of clearing homeless from Memorial Park was about getting them help, mayor says:
The state of the city's downtown has been front and centre for Mayor Brian Bigger for nearly a month, following two stabbings, one of them fatal, in October. In the wake of a violent month in the downtown core, Bigger established a task team to identify and close service gaps that have been impacting some of the city's most vulnerable citizens. A number of those vulnerable citizens were removed from Memorial Park on Oct. 25 by city bylaw enforcement, with the assistance of Greater Sudbury Police. "Those individuals who had been living in the park were offered, and continue to be offered opportunities for support and resources from community outreach," said Bigger. "It's my understanding that our outreach services had been there from the start, trying to provide ongoing and additional help and we have a number of outreach organizations in the community that are still out there connecting with those that wish to obtain assistance." The mayor explained that there were some concerns raised regarding the people who were living in the park, but stood by his stance that removing people from an area is more about offering support than it is about enforcement. "I don't believe this is a police matter; it's about trying to help out people with mental health, addictions, homelessness challenges and people are obviously in crisis in the downtown," said Bigger. "We have been working with all of our support organizations that work across the community and there are quite a number of them." More on this story can be found here.
Second-degree murder case against Steffin Rees moves forward:
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Steffin Rees, the man charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Preston Pellerin, 17, on Nov. 15 in the downtown core. A seven-day preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 7-11 and Dec. 14-15 in Courtroom C. A preliminary hearing is held by the court to decide whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial. The prosecutor presents the most important parts of the evidence against the accused, and may call witnesses to give evidence. In Rees’ case, all witnesses have been subpoenaed, the court heard Tuesday as the dates for the preliminary hearing were confirmed. If there isn’t enough evidence to send the case to trial, the court will dismiss the charge. Rees, who also faces a drug possession charge, is being represented by defence lawyer Robert Beckett. A second person has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder, and one count of obstructing justice in Pellerin’s death.
City looks to hike taxi rates by 5%:
City staff are recommending a five-per-cent hike to taxi rates as early as Nov. 24. A report that was scheduled to come before to city council on Nov. 10 outlined a staff recommendation to increase the drop rate and rolling rate by five per cent, while preparing a bylaw amendment that would allow taxi owners to create and file their tariff rates with the city. That report was not spoken to on Nov. 10 and will be addressed at a later date. Greater Sudbury ranks among the most expensive cities in Northern Ontario when it comes to its taxi fares. Currently, it costs passengers $4 as soon as they get in a cab in Sudbury – a fee called the “drop rate.” Greater Sudbury has one of the lowest drop rates in the North, but the city’s fee per distance (the “rolling rate”) is higher than cities such as North Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. At $0.25 per 95 metres and a $4 drop rate, a 10-kilometre trip in a taxi in Sudbury will cost $30.31, while the next highest cost for the same trip is Sault Ste. Marie at $28.90. Thunder Bay has one of the highest drop rates in the north at $4.78, but its low fees per distance means a 10-km trip will cost $23.98, $6.33 cheaper than in Sudbury. The taxi rates in Greater Sudbury have steadily climbed over the past two decades, and back in 2003 with a drop rate of $3 and a fee per distance of $0.25, a 10-km trip would have cost less than $20, at $19.60. Get the full story here.
Greater Sudbury receives almost $2M for infrastructure from feds:
Municipalities in Northern Ontario are receiving $19.85 million in provincial-federal government funding toward infrastructure projects through the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream. At $1,987,031, Greater Sudbury is the recipient of the largest allotment, followed by Thunder Bay, which will receive $1,606,329, and North Bay, which will receive $876,606. Sault Ste. Marie will receive $429,423, while Timmins will receive $317,820. Most of the rest of the allotments are around the $100,000 to $200,000 range. The funding is designated to “help build and repair a wide range of infrastructure projects that respond to the impacts of the pandemic, including retrofits and repairs, COVID-19 response infrastructure, active transportation, and disaster mitigation,” according to a Nov. 9 news release. Launched in October, the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream is a $1.05-billion joint initiative of the federal and provincial governments. Full story here.
There are now 100 active, confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the North:
Public Health Ontario confirmed a record daily case count with 1,388 new cases reported Tuesday. On Nov. 8 the province reported 1,328 new cases, which until today was the highest ever reported in a single day. The province has also reported 15 deaths in the Nov. 10 report, including three people between the ages of 60 and 79 years old, and 12 people over the age of 80 years old. Eleven of the people who died were residents at long-term care facilities in Ontario. There have been 31 more people hospitalized since Monday's report and 11 COVID patients have been admitted to intensive care units. The province noted 781 recoveries on Nov. 10. Full numbers from Tuesday's report here (https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/there-are-now-100-active-confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-across-the-north-2866050).
‘Special Christmas’ in the works for Azilda lottery winner:
And boom, just like that, Azilda resident Jacqueline Desmeules is $100,000 richer after someone gifted her an instant lottery ticket. “I do enjoy playing instant tickets,” Demeules said while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up her winnings. She was given an Instant Boom Multiplier ticket, which was purchased at Mac’s on Highway 144 in Chelmsford. “When I started to match numbers, I couldn’t believe it. I scanned my ticket using the OLG Lottery App and was still in disbelief.” The married grandmother of six said she plans to pay bills and celebrate a special Christmas with her family.
Wednesday Weather:
Time to bring those fall jackets back out as the November heat wave is over. Mainly cloudy today with a 30 per cent chance of showers. Daytime high will be sitting at around 8. Cloudy skies into the evening with the temperature dropping off later in the day. Overnight low will get down to -2, feeling like -5 with the wind chill. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
